Turkey, ISIS, Kurds and Syria

[Dystopiary]

A critique of Chomsky and his position on Syria by Yassin al-Haj Saleh

Chomsky's America-Centric Prism Distorts Reality

A leading Syrian intellectual takes on the famous linguist, arguing that Americentrism blinds the latter from the reality of the revolution

newlinesmag.com

Just read that, and I learned a lot from it.

 

[miss direct]

Opposition leader jailed for "insults". Will find an English link to share.

 

[Pickman's model]

They shut down the Zaman papers yesterday I believe. No great loss obviously, but it's the principle of the thing.

yeh and they deleted the paper's archive Do Newspaper Archives Need a “Dead Man’s Switch”? the widest circulated newspaper in turkey and they deleted 27 years of history. no great loss, obviously

 

[miss direct]

Keep an eye on Turkey tonight.

 

[Dogsauce]

From what I’m reading, early results will favour Erdogan as rural areas report first (smaller districts so quicker to count). Most ‘experts’ will know this, so take amateur predictions/projections, especially on social media, with a pinch of salt at this stage.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Keep an eye on Turkey tonight.

It'd be nice to see the back of Erdogan, but I'm not holding out any hope.

 

[miss direct]

Feeling kind of sick.

 

[Riklet]

Fingers crossed they can get him out....

 

[tim]

It'd be nice to see the back of Erdogan, but I'm not holding out any hope.

He's got a dicky ticker, hasn't he? So whatever happens, he might not be around for much longer.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Looking like a second round. But also looks like Erdogan will be the favourite in the second round. While he hasn't won today (probably), he should probably be encouraged by beating Kilicdaroglu by 5 percentage points.

Not sure what Erdogan has to do to lose votes in certain parts of the country.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Erdogan wins the parliament, narrowly misses out on a first-round win for president. Good day for him. Can't see him losing the second round. The third-place candidate is basically a fascist, so I'd expect most of his votes to go to Erdogan given that Kilicdaroglu has the backing of the main Kurdish party.

Something drastic needs to happen in the next two weeks to stop Erdogan now. Hard to see.

 

[Dogsauce]

Something like two-thirds of parliament is now right wing/nationalist. Seems to be standard for the right wing to create/stir up a threat (in this case Kurdish terrorism) then play the strongman to protect people from this and fight back. Exactly how things have been in Israel for the last few decades as an example, and also why the Tories are always banging on about ‘dangerous migrants‘ here. Cunts creating and weaponising fear.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Kilicdaroglu is only good by comparison with the other total cunts. He has at least made promises about restoring parliamentary democracy. It's easy to forget that, among other things, Erdogan gutted Turkish democracy in order to stay in power. But in Turkey, you have a choice between nationalists and nationalists. Secular nationalists are preferable to Islamist nationalists but either way, the Kurds remain fucked.

 

[Serge Forward]

Kilicdaroglu is only good by comparison with the other total cunts. He has at least made promises about restoring parliamentary democracy. It's easy to forget that, among other things, Erdogan gutted Turkish democracy in order to stay in power. But in Turkey, you have a choice between nationalists and nationalists. Secular nationalists are preferable to Islamist nationalists but either way, the Kurds remain fucked.

Don't necessarily disagree. That said Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party backs Erdogan’s rival for president

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Don't necessarily disagree. That said Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party backs Erdogan’s rival for president

Yes, that piece hints at why they back him. He's promised a return to parliamentary democracy, which gives the Kurds a chance at least of a more pluralist future.

 

[LDC]

Some more explaining here Kurds Are Poised to Vote for a Kemalist

 

[hitmouse]

Only just seen that Turkey/Rojava has kicked off again as well:

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/05/middleeast/turkey-airstrikes-kurdish-syria-intl/index.html

 

[hitmouse]

Turkey bombing Rojava/NE Syria again:

Ongoing: Turkey launches Christmas Day attack on North and East Syria - Freedom News

First reports already spoke of 13 wounded and 8 martyred

freedomnews.org.uk

The Turkish occupation state continues its attacks against Rojava, North and East Syria on Christmas morning. Just weeks after a heavy wave of attacks against infrastructure and civilians in October, Turkey once again intensified the war, launching a series of drone strikes yesterday morning, two days after attacking several locations in the Tirbespiye area. First reports already spoke of 13 wounded and 8 martyred, four of whom came from the print factory in Qamishlo city. The local hospital calls for blood donations.

This is an ongoing situation, UPDATES HERE:

In Qamishlo:
– 16 drone strikes happened
– A print factory, a cement factory, a workshop for construction work, a sewing factory, an agriculture facility and the old train station were targeted
– The dialysis centre in Qamishlo. There will be barely any treatment alternative available for sick people in the whole region. Turkey is robbing Rojava’s people of basic necessities such as safety and health care:

“In this hospital, we treated about 60 or 70 patients. This was an important option for the patients who had to go to Aleppo or Damascus to seek treatment. The enemy didn’t even leave us this. My name is Rafa Abbas. I am responsible for the dialysis centre here in Qamishlo City.

The health committee built this oxygen centre to supply the whole city and all hospitals. Turkey didn’t even leave this to us. It is not an economic institution or Military point. The medical point only served the population.”

Call for solidarity here:

Call to Action 25122023 – #RiseUp4Rojava

riseup4rojava.org

On December 23, 2023, the Turkish state launched a brutal bombing campaign against civilian infrastructure in Rojava (northern Syria). With the area still struggling to recover from the attacks it suffered in early October, this new series of raids is preventing any stabilization of the region.

In October, a first Turkish attack targeted the vital infrastructure of Rojava (gas, electricity, water, sites for the production of essential goods, etc.), causing massive damage endangering the livelihoods of millions of people.

The new air raids just launched by the Turkish state are targeting the same vital infrastructures and also are targeting workplaces and production sites. The new air raids just launched by the Turkish state are targeting the same vital infrastructures and also are targeting workplaces and production sites. No matter what the consequences of these attacks (which are still ongoing) will be, it is already certain that the we are facing a catastrophe in Rojava with winter approaching and the electrical & fuel production severely damaged.

Why are these attacks happening now?

In the mountains of southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq), the guerrillas have launched a series of victorious actions against the Turkish occupation forces, which are far from succeeding in weakening the resistance to the Turkish occupation despite the use of weapons that are banned under all international conventions. Having suffered numerous casualties, the fascist Turkish state is now turning its rage to the people of Rojava. The civilian population and their livelihoods are being targeted in order to punish the people and weaken the bond between the people and their self-defense forces.

While the region is regularly struck by drones targeting representatives of self-administration structures, self-defense forces and the civilian population, this new offensive aims to dissociate the people from democratic confederalism structures by instilling fear in society. These attacks target a political project put forward by the peoples of the region. A stateless, democratic, ecological, multi-ethnic and multicultural society, driven by the vanguard of women. Turkey’s genocidal policy is aimed at displacing the people, essentially ethnic cleansing.

In the face of this situation, we call on all revolutionary forces, anti-fascists, democratic and freedom-loving people around the world to organize and put pressure on Turkey wherever it may be. Let us not forget that the Turkish state often wages its dirty war with political support and with Western weapons and technologies. From spreading information to protests in front of Turkish embassies to other forms of direct action and civil disobedience, there are countless means.

What we need now is a quick and impactful response to stop the attacks immediately!